A visitor to Sotheby’s Auction House takes a selfie with Andy Warhol’s first self- portrait during Sotheby’s Contemporary Art sale in London, Britain, 23 June 2017.

Andy Warhol is an American artist, a leading figure of the pop art movement. After a successful career as an advertising illustrator, he became world famous for his work as an artist, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer and writer.

At the heart of Andy Warhol’s work is the general perception of American culture. He paints money, dollar signs, food, women’s shoes, celebrities, and newspaper clippings. For him, these objects represent the American cultural values. For example, Coca-Cola represents a democratic equality between people because “Coca-Cola is always Coca-Cola, the Coca-Cola the president drinks is the same as yours or mine.” He used popular images and methods to visualize American identity in the 20th century. This new look at the American culture is the subject and result of his art.

Apart from creating art, Andy Warhol is quite popular with his claim that “in the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Later, he made a joke in front of reporters: “My new claim is that in 15 minutes everyone will be known.”